The recent killings and wanton destruction of property by herdsmen have created fears in the atmosphere in Kogi state, and its environs, especially in the eastern part of the state where scores of people have been killed for two weeks running. OYIBO SALIHU reports
While some people are of the opinion that Governor Yahaya Bello’s open invitation to herdsmen to graze their animals in any part of the state may have led to the recent attacks in some part of Bassa, Dekina and Omala local government areas of Kogi state by herdsmen, others attributed the mayhem in the three local government areas to the outright rejection of the open invitation by the people of the three senatorial districts.
Set stage for disorder
At a security stakeholders meeting held in government house in December 2017, Governor Bello did not hide his feelings and sympathy for the Fulani herdsmen, despite series of complaints about what the people described as their ‘destructive attitude toward farmers’ in the state. The state governor had threatened to dethrone any traditional ruler who cannot ensure that peace exists between his people and the Fulani herdsmen residing in their domain.
Similarly, the local government administrators in the 21 councils were not spared in the threat as the governor also mandated them to integrate the Fulanis into membership of their Security Council or risk sack from office.
Surprisingly, when other governors in the North central part of the country vehemently rejected the proposed cattle colony, Governor Bello, without considering the implications supported the idea and even donated some hectares of land in Ajaokuta and Adavi local government areas of the state to federal government to kick start the project.
All of these, according to keen watchers of event in the state were aimed at ensuring a peaceful coexistence between the farmers and the herdsmen in the state.
Dekina onslaught
But, the governor’s effort in bring the Fulani herdsmen closer to the people of the state seems to be in vain, when penultimate week, five communities, namely; Adumu, Aloko, Oganeinugu, Ojuole and Omayege, all in Dekina local government area of the state were invaded by suspected herdsmen who went on killing spree, an attack that eyewitnesses said, lasted for about 20 hours before security agents could be deployed to the communities.
Ojuwo Ajomaigbi’s casualties
The herdsmen’s onslaught in Ojuwo Ajomaigbi, a community dominated by the Igala in Bassa local government area, reportedly led to the death of over 30 people, while many are still missing.
Said one of the witnesses, Samaila Maji, a native of Ojuwo Ajomaigbi community, who cheated death during the attack, while narrating his ordeal to Blueprint newspaper, “The attack took us by surprise, around 8:am on Wednesday,14th of March. As they entered our community, they started shooting at us sporadically, killing helpless people without mercy, women and children were not spared at all, even my father and mother were killed in the attack.
“Our people tried to repel the attackers but they overwhelmed us as they were over 400 in number and dressed in black attires. Some of our people had no option but to run for their lives as the herders continued to fire gun shots at them with sophisticated weapons, like AK47.
“They killed over 30 of our people and beside that, they also killed about six of our people at Ogbakaka, the next village, some are still in the hospital and we don’t know if they will survive the injuries inflicted on them by the Fulani herdsmen.”
Pointing at the community from a distance, Maji said, “You can see for yourself the level of destructions meted on our people. Many houses were razed by the herdsmen as residents of neighbouring villages had no option than to ran to Etukpe, Adumu , Olokba, Ikpapara and Anyigba, all in Dekina, for safety.
“There is hardly any young man who was not having a motorcycle in this village, the attackers burnt some of the motorcycles and went away with over 45 motorcycles, including our food stuffs and money”
Appeal
He appealed to the state government to take a proactive measure against the incessant attacks in the eastern part of the state, lamenting that the herdsmen’s inhuman activities have crippled the economy of the area.
Another member of the community, Aaron Baba Peter, said the Fulani herdsmen killed his father and several innocent people.
“We don’t know our sins, They came and took us by surprise. They came in military camouflage with AK47, AK45 and AK49, you can see the empty bullet shells scattered all over. I am appealing to the Kogi state government for assistance. We have been friends with the Fulanis to the extent that we transact businesses with them, but this attack is still a mysterious to me.”
Desolate community
It is easy to observe the absence of basic infrastructure in this village, as there is no police station, no electricity, no health facility and access road.
Governor Bello’s response
When Governor Bello visited the village despite the difficult terrain, he promised to institute a judicial panel of enquiry to unravel the causes of the attacks, in order to finding a lasting solution to it.
Although the governor described the attackers as armed bandits, he urged the security agents drafted to the communities to perform their responsibility of protecting lives and property.
Monarch as casualty in fresh killing
Sadly, less than five days of the governor’s visit to the affected village, the same group suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked four communities–Agbenema, Aj’Ichekpa, Opada and Iyade, all in Omala local government area of the state, where about 10 people, including a traditional ruler, Onu Okemu of Agbenema, Musa Edigbo, were killed.
An eye witness account revealed that several houses were razed by the herdsmen, adding that the traditional ruler was killed when the herdsmen stormed his palace and burnt down the palace.
Among the houses burnt were that of a former chairman of the local government and another belonging to his father, while the current council chairman, Ibrahim Aboh, reportedly narrowly escaped killed by the attacker.
Attackers armed with sophisticated weapons
The attackers were said to be armed with sophisticated weapons and reportedly hid in the bush around the villages from where they launched deadly attacks on their targets.
Irked by the series of attacks and killings in the eastern part of the state, Kogi state government few days ago offered N5 million as reward to anybody who can volunteered information that would lead to the arrest of those who terrorised and killed people in Ojuwo , Ajamàgbe and Agbenema in Dekina and Omala local government areas of the state.
Government vows to find attackers
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director General, Media and Publicity, to the governor, Kingsley Fanwo.
The statement said “the government is immensely saddened by the Tuesday’s attack on Agbenema, a peaceful community in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State by mercenaries, allegedly working for herdsmen in the area”.
The statement pointed out that intelligence reports showed that the attackers at Agbenema on Monday, 19th March, 2018 appeared to be the same group which attacked Ojuwo Ajamàgbe, near Ogane-Inegu in Bassa local government area of the state, and urged people with useful information to call the government.
Stakeholders condemn killings
Obviously, the killings have been condemned by stakeholders in the state who called on the government and security agencies to wade into the situation.
The senator representing Kogi East, Atai Aidoko, called for urgent actions to end the killings, saying Fulani herdsmen invaded communities in Bassa, Dekina and Omala local government areas and not “armed bandits” as mentioned in certain quarters.
Aidoko said the attacks resulted from the Kogi State government’s policy to establish cattle colonies for herdsmen, thereby giving them “express license” to unleash terror on the indigenes.
According to him “My people are predominantly agrarian people who are into full time farming and have been ambushed by the herdsmen in the course of pastoral activities, eating up farm products and crops cultivated over the years.
“The herdsmen will now resort to reinforcement using arms, ammunitions and mercenaries to maim and kill innocent people in my area wiThease”.
Also, the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Femi Olugbemi, condemned the killings in Igalaland and urged security agencies to arrest the situation and bring the perpetrators to book.
He cautioned that the killings in some parts of the state should not be politicized.
A youth leader and the state chairman of APC youth caucus, Honourable Abdulrahman Dansebe, described the incident as unfortunate and appealed to the National Emmagency Management Agency (NEMA), to come to the aid of the people displaced by the attacks.
Tracing sickle cell back to one child, 7,300 years ago
New research suggests that the history of sickle-cell disease goes back to a mutation in just one person, a development researchers hope will make treatment less complicated for the many people who suffer from this painful illness. So how have they traced it and why does it matter?
The story of sickle-cell disease is, first and foremost, a study in how a good thing can come with bad consequences.
Once upon a time in what is now the Sahara desert, a child was born with heightened immunity to malaria – important because at the time, this part of Africa was wet and rainy and covered with forest.
It was a great habitat for mosquitoes, which carry malaria, a disease that these days kills one child every two minutes.
With a better chance against an illness that was a major killer, then as now, this child with the genetic mutation lived and had children, and those children spread out, all bolstered wiThextra defences against malaria and living for longer, and their descendants around the world still have those extra defences today, more than 250 generations later.
But here’s where the bad consequences come in.
If both your parents have that gene mutation, you can end up with sickle cell disease, which brings severe pain and other complications to its patients. These include shortness of breath, strokes and vision problems.
And people who inherit the gene from both parents do not have its protection against malaria.
In a study published on Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics, Daniel Shriner and Charles Rotimi from the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health presented findings from analysing the genomes of nearly 3,000 people, 156 of whom had sickle cell. The researchers say they traced the mutation back for 7,300 years, and found it started with just one child.
Why does this matter? It helps with classification, Dr Rotimi says. He tells the BBC that it will give doctors “a better understanding of how to classify sickle patients in terms of disease severity”.
